The Original College Seal

On December 1, 2016, the Wagner College seal celebrates its 100th birthday! Designed by student Edgar Krauch of Buffalo, a member of the class of 1918, it was first used on the College’s stationery.

1. Until the late 1950s, our full name was Wagner Memorial Lutheran College. 2. At the time the seal was designed, our campus was located in Rochester, New York. 3. The open book is the Bible. 4. Early Wagner College motto, “Allein Gott in der Höh’ sei Ehr’” (“To God Alone on High Be Glory”), title of a 1525 Martin Luther hymn. 5. Palm branch, a Biblical image of victory (à la Palm Sunday) (later mistaken for a quill pen). 6. The “sword of the spirit,” a Biblical image. 7. The “trumpet of witness” (Biblical). 8. Here, in tiny little letters, are the graphic artist’s initials: “EK.”

Edgar Krauch’s hand-drawn art incorporated what was the school’s full name until the 1950s, Wagner Memorial Lutheran College, and its original location (from 1883 until 1917), Rochester, New York. The drawing incorporated symbols of the Bible and from the Bible: an open book is the Bible itself; and the “sword of the spirit,” the “trumpet of witness,” and a palm branch are all Biblical images. (In a new version drawn in the 1980s and still being used today, the palm branch was converted into something that looks more like a quill pen.)

Krauch incorporated an early Wagner College German motto, “Allein Gott in der Höh’ sei Ehr’” (“To God Alone on High Be Glory”), title of a 1525 Martin Luther hymn. And finally, he signed it with his initials, “EK.”